How to Cash Out Sports Bets – When to Cash Out Sports Bets Early

Long ago (like ten years ago) when you placed a bet I’m sure you dreamt of being able to cash out the bet early, not have to wait until the end of the game, and guarantee profit. On the flip side, I’m sure you also wished you could cash your bet out early and hedge from losing ALL of your money. 

In the modern age of mobile and online sports betting, this can now be a reality. Many online sportsbooks offer the ability to cash a bet out early to lock in a profit, loss, or just get your stake back.

What is Cashing Out Sports Bets?

It’s exactly what it seems: The sportsbooks real-time offer to end the bet early and take a portion of the total payout, get your full stake back, or even an amount higher than your original stake from the bet currently in play. 

Why Would I Want to Cash Out My Bet?

Cashing out a bet can allow you to guarantee profit or partially mitigate your losses without the need to hedge. 

If a book sees your bet as becoming more and more probable to win, or that the lines have moved significantly from when you placed the bet they are going to entice you to only take a portion of those potential winnings to save themselves from paying out the full amount. 

You, the bettor, may consider taking this reduced payout if you are not confident in the bet you made actually winning as the entire event plays out.

A book can also offer you a cashout equal to a portion of your original wager. 

You, the bettor, would take this because you don’t feel this wager is going to win so you can at least recover some of the money you put in. The book offers this option so they do not have to pay out anything from this bet and can guarantee a profit from you.

When Should I Cash My Bet Out?

You can cash out a bet at any time as long as the book is giving the option. A book does not have to provide the option to cashout. 

Usually, the cashout option becomes available when you have beaten the closing line by a significant margin. 

What is Closing Line Value?

Closing line value (CLV) is how well your initial bet stacked up against the final line the book has offered. Let’s take a look at an example straight from my own betting history tracked on OddsJams Bet Tracker. 

In this bet, I used the OddsJam tools to see that the -127 odds I was being offered were quite a bit better than the OddsJam Perfect Line. 

In looking at the perfect line I also determined that Marcus Smart going over 4.5 assists was the most probable outcome (not that it is guaranteed, just more likely).

The last line the book offered on this market was -143, which are worse odds than I got in at -127 in relation to how much money I have to stake to make $100.

Since those odds were better than the closing line I had positive CLV.

How do I know when I have positive CLV without being glued to the lines?

As always, OddsJam has the tools for you! 

Once you create a free OddsJam account you have access to the free bet tracker. This will allow you to track your bets.

However, if you want to take full advantage of the bet tracker (and you should) you need to subscribe to our Industry plan.  This gives you access to +EV, Arbitrage, and very importantly perfect line odds with CLV alerts.

Once you have subscribed you simply add a bet to your bet tracker. Once you have done this you can set your email alerts to notify you of CLV value by going to 

My Profile→Bet Tracker→CLV notifications “on”

Once you have done this you can rest easy. As your bet gets either negative CLV or positive CLV you will get email notifications. Once you receive the notification you can compare what is happening to OddsJam’s perfect line, check your ticket to see if there is a cashout available, and decide what you want to do.

Most likely if you are getting a +CLV notification you should let that bet ride. If you are getting a -CLV notification you may want to seriously consider taking the lesser cashout option or hedge your bets.

How to Cash Out Your Bet

Cashing out a bet is incredibly easy. There will be a large “cashout *insert value here*” button that you can press to receive whatever money is being offered. This example comes courtesy of PointsBet.

As you can see here I placed a wager of $1 on this market. Pointsbet is now offering me the option to only lose $.05 instead of the entire dollar since, as of right now, it is less probable for my bet to hit.

In order to cash this out I would simply click on the Cash Out button and receive my payout!

Pay close attention to the amount of money a book is offering. The more money they are offering you compared to your original stake, the more likely your bet is to hit. 

It’s always about the amount of risk you are comfortable taking.

Which Sportsbooks Offer Bet Cash Outs?

This chart below will show you all of the books that allow you to cash out at this point in time:

Book Name	Symbol
DraftKings
FanDuel
PointsBet
BetRivers/SugarHouse
BetMGM

Strategies for Cashing Out Your Bets

Open parlay bets where a few legs have already cashed

Often once a couple of legs of a parlay begin to hit the books software will start to offer cashouts. If you have a +4000 6-leg parlay with the first 3 outcomes hitting, the books may offer a cash out. 

Check your bet against the live perfect line

With live odds you can consistently check out the perfect line against the bet you made. 

If the live line for your bet is moving against your initial wager, this may be a signal to take a cash out if it’s being offered. If you’re being offered a hefty cashout but the live line says your bet outcome is still favorable you may want to let it ride.

Remember it’s ultimately about your risk tolerance as a bettor

If you cannot stomach the thought of cashing out that bet, it hitting, and losing out on money then don’t cash out.

If you will lose sleep tonight because you could have cashed out, didn’t, then lost all of your money then cash out! At the end of the day it is your accounts and your bankroll.

You can use the above strategies and data points offered by OddsJam to make an informed decision based on your risk tolerance. We are here to give you the resources and knowledge, but at the end of the day it is up to you how you want to play.